Childhood Memories
by kickingbutt
Summary: Despite the infinite flow of polaroids thrust in his face, Ryoma Echizen, for the life of him, could not remember ever playing with Sakuno Ryuzaki.


Ryoma Echizen was fifteen when he received his first kiss. It was just a peck on the cheek, but it was the first time a female outside of his family had made contact with him in such an intimate way. He hadn't been expecting it to say the least, his eyes and mouth wide with shock. He was a bit of late bloomer, being shorter than most of the boys in his class.

The woman to give him his first kiss was none other than fifty-eight-year-old Sumire Ryuzaki. Her graying hair was tied back in a practical ponytail, which went well with her purple sweat suit. The smooch was quickly followed by a pinch to his cheeks, a smothering hug, and good-natured laughs from his parents. Sumire Ryuzaki was a family friend and a tennis coach at the nearby Seishun Academy. Ryoma and his family had moved back into the neighborhood where his parents first met.

While still in the process of moving back into the house he had spent his infancy in, the family received a visit from the old woman, carrying a bottle of sake, and a small girl with unreasonably long hair trailing behind her. Clearly, Ryoma's parents had expected the visit when they happily cheered and exchanged teary-eyed hugs. Ryoma had been watching the intruders warily, wondering at their identities, when it happened.

"I haven't seen you since you were little," the elderly woman chuckled after the kiss, "but you've grown into quite the handsome young man, haven't you?"

Ryoma blinked in disbelief at the woman's familiarity with him.

"Wouldn't you agree, Sakuno dear?" asked the woman. Ryoma noticed the small girl with the ridiculously long hair again. She was the coach's granddaughter. Upon closer inspection, she seemed closer to his own age. Her cinnamon colored locks were gathered into twin braids which fell to her lower back. She was no longer hiding behind the older woman, but her head was down as she twiddled her thumbs.

"U-um, I-I-"

"Who are you?" Ryoma interrupted. Sakuno suddenly looked up, no longer shy. Bashfulness and embarrassment were replaced by mild horror as she looked into his golden brown eyes. "Have we met before?" he asked, scratching his head and running his fingers through his dark hair.

"Ryoma, y-you really don't remember me?" Sakuno asked, her russet eyes wide with disbelief. Ryoma's father and mother looked at him nervously, probably scared of him hurting the girl's feelings. He lacked a good memory for names and faces.

"Sorry, no." Sakuno quickly fled the room in tears. Ryoma scratched his head again in confusion. He'd said he was sorry.

"That is my idiot son for you all," said Nanjiro.

Ryoma was forced to look through countless childhood photo albums after the incident. Everybody seemed to be upset that he didn't remember some little girl, but nobody seemed to care that his first kiss had been stolen by some old hag (even if it was just on the cheek). All the albums seemed to guest star the same little girl with the twin braids. So he knew that Sakuno chick. Apparently, they had played together when they were younger. He still couldn't remember her though.

Despite the infinite flow of Polaroids thrust in his face, much to everyone's exasperation, Ryoma did not recall ever interacting with Sakuno.

Mrs. Ryuzaki and Sakuno visited the Echizen household for lunch regularly after the incident. They would always bring a few delicious dishes as gifts. His father, his mother, Mrs. Ryuzaki, and Sakuno would sit around the table and eat a traditional Japanese meal. Ryoma would hide out in his room for as long as he could until he was forced to come down for fear of starvation. When he entered the room, Sakuno would suddenly see something very interesting near her feet and remain fixated on it until he left.

"So you're going to Seishun when school starts up again?" Mrs. Ryuzaki asked him. Ryoma gave a small nod.

"Maybe you and Sakuno will be in the same class," said his mother, Rinko, encouragingly. Ryoma quickly glanced at Sakuno and noticed her looking at him. Both quickly looked away.

"Look after our Sakuno, boy," said his father with a pat on the back.

Ryoma started the tenth grade at Seishun Academy without knowing anyone but Sakuno. Unfortunately, she was in the class next door, not his. However, by lunchtime, several other girls wanted to know him. He had accumulated a fan club.

It wasn't that Ryoma disliked girls. He simply disliked crazy girls. Why did his class have to be full of them?

Mrs. Ryuzaki had not been lying about Ryoma being handsome. He wasn't very tall, but he more than made up for it in other areas. He was toned, and he had a healthy tan from those hours of tennis practice. However, that was no excuse for girls to go apeshit acting like they just met Justin Bieber on steroids.

Ryoma was not crazy. There was no way he was going to stick around while those animals called girls made googly eyes, and their boyfriends glared. When the lunch bell rang, Ryoma silently stood up with his bento and made his way over to the classroom next door. He quickly spotted Sakuno with a boy with a unibrow, a girl with pigtails, a short boy with a bowl cut, and a tall boy with a buzz cut. They all had their desks pushed together in a makeshift table. The pigtailed girl was in a heated argument with the boy with the unibrow when Ryoma silently grabbed a chair and pulled up next to Sakuno.

"Hey," he said to her nonchalantly. The loud couple didn't stop arguing, and the other two boys were transfixed watching them go. Sakuno, however, turned surprised eyes on him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I go to school here." Duh.

"I mean, what are you doing _here_?" she asked, gesturing towards where he was sitting.

"Eating lunch. Is that a problem?" he asked, just as nonchalantly.

"N-no," she stuttered turning back to her food.

After about a month, the girls in Ryoma's class's obsession with him had died down, and it was safe to spend lunchtime in his own classroom. He ate by himself, took a nap with his head on his desk, and woke up unscathed. He went to afterschool tennis practice as usual. When Mrs. Ryuzaki dismissed practice, he discovered Sakuno outside the green fence enclosing the tennis courts. He figured that she was waiting for his coach, so he was surprised when she called his name.

"R-Ryoma!"

"Yeah?"

"W-would you l-like to walk home together?" She looked around. She looked everywhere, anywhere but at him.

"Why?" he asked. Her eyes returned to the ground.

"Well, w-we live p-pretty close. My house is on the way to yours," she choked out.

"Doesn't Mrs. Ryuzaki usually give you a ride?" He looked at her questioningly. Sakuno blushed.

"Um, grandma said she had a lot of paperwork to do today and..."

Ryoma liked directness, but he found Sakuno actually kind of cute with her demure frame and the way she tried to use her hair to cover the pink tint on her face. He could probably carry her easily. He wondered if he had thought she was cute when they were children. Probably not, he decided.

"Okay."

During the journey home, Sakuno walked just behind Ryoma. After a few silent minutes, she said, "We missed you at lunch today."

Ryoma turned around, eyebrows raised in mild surprise. "Then I'll sit with you guys again tomorrow," he said blankly.

"I'm glad," she said smiling. She quickened her pace to stroll beside him. She gazed at the sidewalk as they walked, her cheeks being a new rosy shade.

"Hey boy, I heard you walked our dear Sakuno home yesterday," said Nanjiro tauntingly the next day at breakfast.

"What's your point?" Ryoma asked, getting really annoyed.

"Nothing, nothing at all," his father replied, smiling as if he knew something Ryoma didn't. Ryoma did not like it. He vented his frustration the only way he knew how.

"I'm going to go practice," he said and walked away in search of his shoes.

The next time Ryoma walked Sakuno home, she was walking at his side again. He was enjoying the silence when she suddenly fell behind. She had stopped walking. Ryoma paused to look back at her. Did she hurt her foot or something?

"R-Ryoma?" she asked her voice, trembling. Suddenly, Ryoma felt nervous. "Do you really not remember me at all?"

It was back to that topic again. Ryoma hesitated to answer. The last time he had answered that question truthfully, she had run off crying. However, before Ryoma could think of a good save, Sakuno burst into tears. The girl was like a teardrop machine. What could he do?

Should he leave her to work out her issues? No, he couldn't just leave a girl crying in the middle of the sidewalk, especially when her issues revolved around him. He was supposed to be looking out for her. Should he stay and try to comfort her? He had no tissues with him to offer. He couldn't think of any soothing words for her that didn't involve fabricating memories that she would see through right away.

Why did the past matter so much to her? He was with her now, was he not?

Her sobs only grew louder, and Ryoma grew more uncomfortable.

Ryoma just wanted the tears to stop. He needed to silence her. So he did the only thing he could think of. He did it because he didn't know how else to deal with her and because a small part inside of him wanted to. He placed a hand on each of her shoulders, closed his eyes, and leaned down.

He kissed her. Sakuno's eyes widened, and her tears stopped. Slowly, she relaxed against the warm pressing on her lips and closed her eyes as well. Ryoma's shoulders loosened, and his hands slid down to the small of her back. He felt dainty hands wrap around his neck, and he was actually beginning to enjoy himself when he remembered her.

Ryoma Echizen received his first kiss when he was four and a half years old. He had completely expected it. He had practically manipulated her into giving it to him. He had fallen and scraped his knee playing tag, but he knew exactly what would make him feel better. His playmate leaned over him, inspecting the damage, and her long braids flopped around, close enough to yank on.

"My mommy usually gives me a kiss when I'm hurting, but you can give me a kiss instead," he'd said.

"Um, o-okay," she'd said, slowly leaning in towards him. Ryoma closed the gap between their faces as soon as she was close enough and discovered that he did, indeed, feel much better. The kiss was immediately followed by a "gotcha," a fit of giggles, and a lively chase.

The girl to give him his first kiss was of course none other than Sakuno Ryuzaki.

Ryoma withdrew from his current kiss and smiled. He didn't smirk. He really smiled the kind of smile a child in wonder made. He smiled the way he did when he first started playing tennis. "I remember," he said, "that time I fell when we were playing and-mmph!"

He was cut off as Sakuno jumped up to kiss him again. She had wiped her tears away and was now giggling against his lips. Naturally, those were not the only memories they had made. "You still have a long ways to go."


End file.
